Rubicon

By James Poniewozik

There have been a lot of spy stories on TV since 9/11 (and before it), but few involved the painstaking creep of espionage. In this political-conspiracy thriller, no one went undercover in nightclubs or beat confessions of out bad guys seconds before a nuke was about to go off. Rubicon's mysteries unfolded on two tracks. Will Travers (James Badge Dale), a deskbound analyst, discovered that the intelligence contractor he worked for was involved in manipulations of world events. At the same time, he and his team of stressed-out, dedicated intel nerds searched documents and crunched clues to sniff out an unfolding terrorist plot. Rubicon took its time, but it had a lot to say about a real-life issue: the power placed in the hands of quasi-governmental security organizations. And its moody aesthetics and love of old-fashioned analysis made this a satisfying paper chase. (AMC)